According to a report posted on CNNfn, graphics-chip company 3dfx plans to exit the card manufacturing business. This is a retreat of sorts for the company, which switched to making their own cards after the purchase of manufacturer STB last year. 3dfx plans to move to the same model of product delivery that rival NVIDIA uses: developing chips and allowing third-party manufacturers to manufacture and distribute actual products. Here is a quote from the article:

Two years after striking out in a new direction, graphics-chip maker 3dfx is going back to its roots in an attempt to regain the company's dwindling strength in an increasingly tight market.

The company plans to close its Juarez, Mexico, card manufacturing plant and remove itself from the business of building the graphics cards that reside in desktop PCs. This is an abrupt switch from the December 1998 takeover of STB Systems, which 3dfx heralded as a move that would put them in charge of their own destiny. Instead, that move -- combined with numerous production delays and supply problems -- has removed the company from its once-dominant position in the industry.

3dfx also plans to infiltrate other markets such as set-top boxes, cell phones, PDAs and video game consoles; however, they have been virtually shut out of the next-generation console market by NVIDIA (which will power the X-box) and ATI (who will provide chips for Nintendo's next effort).

Obviously, this raises questions about 3dfx's commitment to the Mac platform, not to mention who might be making Mac-specific 3dfx-based cards in the future. Accelerate Your Mac has received some clarification on 3dfx's stance towards the Mac from the company's Lisa Grubb. She notes (albeit briefly) that this doesn't change their strategy towards the Mac platform; instead they are simply going to be outsourcing the actual production of cards to other companies. Check out the page for more information. Be sure and share your opinion of these developments on our Forums.